Amelia and Ophelia: The Former Grand Duchess and Saintess.

As the flames flicked around the figures they were looking at, the dual monarchs knew that they had to get their soldiers out of the kill zone. 

"Everyone fall back! Leave them to us" Amelia ordered as she turned to their soldiers, although none of them moved as they were all hesitant to  leave their monarchs unsupported 

"Now!" Amelia shouted, with this order working this time around as they began to quickly move back and formed a line near the tree line they had come out of

Turning her head back to the figures still not moving from the burning camp, Amelia could see that the enemy was waiting for them to move first against them or at least that was what she was thinking as she and her beloved continued to stare the enemy down. 

"Ophie..." Amelia began 

"I know...they are all SS-Rank in power...that is concerning, I never expected something like this to happen" Ophelia answered her as she looked at the group before them 

"But they all look so...deformed though" Amelia remarked 

"That is what concerns me...I do not know what the hell I am looking at...the crystal that is lodged in their throats are pure black, I have never seen such a monster crystal with that color, but whatever it is, it's making them bloated" Ophelia added as her eyes narrowed on them 

"So the plan?" 

"Let me handle this" Ophelia said as she snapped her fingers 

{!}

Ophelia snapped her fingers several times but saw that none of the spells she envisioned worked, her eyes going wide as confusion and a slight sense of fear seeped in for the first time, something her beloved noticed as she could see her beloved's strong spells not even influencing the enemy. Her face showing concern and even growing worry as she glanced back at the group before them. 

"Hmm...this is bad" Ophelia remarked as her cool and calm demeanor returned, her eyes glancing back and forth between her hand and the group before her 

"Why isn't your magic working?" Amelia asked 

"I do not know...but I guess we will have to do this the hard way" The raven-haired empress said with a hint of annoyance 

"Oh fuck" The blond empress remarked 

"Oh fuck indeed. It seems we are going to have to fight the fuckers...I will handle the others, can I trust you to be safe in taking on the High Chief?" Ophelia asked as she pulled out [Judgement Maker] once more and ignited it 

"I can, please take care Ophie...whatever they are doing, I do not like it" Amelia answered her as she pulled out her daggers [Purfier] and [Corrupter] once more 

"Good. We cut off their heads, and we will be finished here....and we will see what the fuck is powering them once we tear those crystals from their throats" Ophelia stated as she got into a fighting stance, lowering her body and angling her sword at the group 

"Agreed" Amelia added as she also lowered her body and got her daggers ready by placing them at her sides 

"Let's get this done then"

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{!} 

The enemy was the first to make their moves as the disfigured High Chief Erlan charged Amelia, his scimitar swinging high into the air with his deformed right arm as he moved faster than ever before and closed the distance between him and the two monarchs relatively quickly. Amelia moved to meet him, both of her draggers formed into an X block and blunting the downward swing of Erlan's scimitar. She gritted her teeth as she was pushed slightly back from the impact. 

"You....will...die" Erlan groaned as his eyes twitched while he tried to exert more force to overpower the woman before him 

Amelia stayed silent as she slowly pushed back and then shoved the deformed elf away from her, launching two slashes that cut off his right hand and then his deformed right arm which was a mistake on her part as she was aiming for his neck but he barely dodged out of the way as she swung [Purifier] towards it. Erlan's weapon and arm dropped to the ground with a loud plop before he let out a wild shriek as he leaped back and away from Ameliam locking eyes with her and growling like a wild beast as he kept his hand on the bleeding-out section of his deformed body, with black blood coming out instead of red. A few moments later, a freshly deformed hand materialized and at the end of it was a sharpened edge resembling a scimitar, making the High Chief shriek as he lunged at her again.

"By the Gods that is disgusting" Amelia remarked as she looked at him, still in her battle stance, ready for the next round. 

Meanwhile, past the two fighting. Ophelia was preoccupied with fighting the other seven SS-Rank malformed hinterland soldiers who were busy trying to kill her once she leaped to the side and then rushed them while Erlan was fighting her beloved, with her heightened strength and senses, Ophelia was heaving a much easier time than her beloved but quickly found out that all of her offensive magic was not working on them for some reason so far. 

'Must be those fucking crystals' she thought as she dodged and parried a pair of swings from a kitsune who lunged at her, replying with a thrust that went through the kitsune's throat and the crystal lodged into it before decapitating her malformed head off her body in one stroke. As the kitsune died, however, the black crystal that Ophelia had punched through dissipated, and a black mist quickly moved to the other six she was fighting. She then felt them get stronger through their aura in the air and that made Ophelia's face make an annoyed expression 

'So when one dies, the others get stronger...for fucks sake' she thought as she continued to dodge and parry attacks. 

She blocked a downward strike from an elven soldier, the armored gauntlet catching it and then breaking it. At the same time, a kitsune soldier got behind her and aiming for an upward thrust with her sword from her crouched posture. Ophelia's training kicked in as she shifted her body to the right and dodged the upward thrust, allowing it to pass her and watching as the elven soldier to her left was pierced in the chest by the thrust, screaming out in pain as he felt the steel burning inside him and sending him flying away and crashing onto the grass, she then grabbed the kitsune who was now properly in front of her by the neck and grabbed it tightly before kicking the body of the kitsune so hard that her head was ripped right off, with the body tumbling away and spewing black blood while she held onto the decapitated head that was now not moving. Just like before, the crystal dissipated and dispersed into the remaining five opponents, including the elf on the ground, making them all roar as they were powered up once more. 

'Fucking hell...this will be something' Ophelia thought as she tossed the head aside and brought up her sword once more

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Outside the clear barrier that separated them from the fighting inside, the soldiers of the 2nd Army watched with bated breath as their dual monarchs fought against these foes they had deemed too strong for them to deal with. They watched as Empress Amelia fought on equal footing against a single elf who looked to be the leader of the group while Empress Ophelia was busy fighting against five other opponents who were now trying to attack in unison but failing miserably. A few of them wanted to jump in and help but the Black Guard and Erhet had held them back from doing so. 

"No, organize everyone back into formation, set up a line five miles to the south, we must stop anything and anyone from interfering in this. Trust Her Majesties, they wouldn't have done this if they didn't think they could win" Erhet commanded them, with the soldiers initially hesitant but then following their orders.

They formed into the same formation they had done before the battle and quickly moved around the battle and barrier towards the south, with General Marius, a kitsune personally leading her army in their march, engaging and killing off any Hinterland soldier foolish enough to try and charge them again. Meanwhile, the Black Guard all stood watch as Erhet ordered them to watch and if at any point the monarchs seemed to be in more danger than they could handle, they were to immediately intervene and if need be, sacrifice themselves for their monarch. 

They watched in awe as Empress Amelia dodged several wide swings and thrusts from the foe she was facing, ducking under the last thrust and then replying with a quick flurry of slashes that tore up the right arm of the High Chief and then cutting off his right leg before kicking him away as she dodged a swing from his left arm. The High Chief slammed and then rolled onto the ground as his body regenerated from the blows, his screeching and roaring becoming more and more like a monster from a dungeon. Seeing for themselves that the elf she was fighting was becoming less of an elf and more of an unrecognizable hellspawn that crawled out of some forgotten hole. They also watched as Empress Ophelia was able to kill another one of her opponents as she closed the distance between her and a female elf who tried to thrust her spear into Ophelia's chest but missed as she dodged at the last minute and then replied with an upward slash that cut open the elf's chest and destroyed her neck and the black crystal residing inside it. They also watched as she was able to duck and dodge the attacks from the remaining four before skewering two more through the neck with her sword and a lance she picked up off the ground.

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'Haa...fucking hell, can't this dude just die already?!' Amelia thought as she gathered her breaths, just like her beloved, her offensive magic was not working so she could not fire out any of the powerful spells in her arsenal, but it did mean her blessings were still available and she had been pumping herself full of them since the fight began. However, even her blessings that were supposed to null regeneration were not stopping High Chief Erlan from regenerating and that was cause for concern for her. 

She glanced over at Ophie and saw that her beloved was now down to just fighting two opponents left, she nodded as she saw Ophelia glance at her and flash her a little smile before going back to the business of parrying and dodging the enemy's attacks that were getting more and more coordinated. Amelia then returned her gaze back to the High Chief who by this point was now consumed by whatever the black magic crystal in his neck was doing to him. Each time she would cut off his limbs and damage other parts of his body, and each time they would be regenerated, it used to just be the malformed greenish-greyish skin with the little pink and amber patches, but it was now just pure black every time the deformed and bloated limbs regenerated and they were much sturdier than the initial limbs she had cut off with ease. 

She also noticed that the strikes against her were getting more feral and predictable, like the attacks of a monster one would encounter inside a dungeon. Her adventurer training told her to use that against her foe who was losing more and more of himself the more she damaged him and if it turned him into an easy target later on in the fight, well, all she had to do was keep swinging. 

"Come on then! Is that all you got you bloated waste of space!" She taunted as she readied herself 

"KREAAAAA" Erlan roared as he charged her again, this time revealing an extra pair of arms that ended with clusters of spikes 

{!} 

Amelia dodged the first swing from a left cross from both left arms and replied with a quick downward cut that tore off the first arm but failed to hit the second as she quickly leaned back to dodge the second pair of arms going for an uppercut. Her eyes went wide as she nearly got struck by one of the arms by a small margin. She quickly somersaulted back as she moved out of attack range and quickly reorganized herself as the High Chief went on the attack again. But this time around, Amelia moved in close as well, dodging the first two swings before replying with a slash across his absurdly thick chest and then a flurry of slashes that cut apart the four arms of the monster before her, eliciting a loud pained screech from Erlan as her blows caused severe pain, she then launched two downward slashes that cut apart the thighs of the High Chief before she landed a brutal turning sidekick that sent the body flying off. 

"Are you finished yet?" Amelia asked with a small smirk as she looked down at the regenerating monster of a High Chief before her, seeing the massive black magic crystal exposed in his chest

"Not this time" She muttered as she readied herself to lunge forward and finally finish this fight 

{!} 

Suddenly, she wheeled around and her eyes went wide as a lance of earth sprouted out of the ground behind her, 

'Oh fuck' she thought as the lanced thankfully smashed into the barrier surrounding her body, harmlessly dispersing into fragments around them 

{!} 

But as she turned around, she gasped loudly as felt a stinging pain in her gut as she coughed up blood. Looking down, she saw one of the arms of Erlan pierce through her abdomen and before she could do anything else, his other limbs grabbed her arms and her neck, trying to choke the life out of her but to no avail thanks to her being blessed with semi-immortality and her numerous Saintess blessings keeping her alive, but she was in immense pain from all of the force being applied to her and she was getting the sinking feeling they were fading for some reason. She desperately struggled to get out of the monster's grip but the hardened limbs were much stronger than before, and so there was no success

"Oi" 

{!} 

Both Erlan and Amelia turned to see Ophelia holding onto the limb that pierced her lover's stomach 

"Get your hands off my wife" She growled as she quickly snapped off his arm into three pieces and then swung her bastard sword with an overhead swing that cut off the other three limbs, dropping Amelia onto the ground and out of its grasp. 

The monster that was once Erlan screamed in pain as it backed away but before it could do anything else, Ophelia closed in with a fury and fired off a punch that blew away all of the flesh, bones, and muscle of the monster, dropping the large black monster crystal onto the ground and then stabbing it with a charged up [Judgment Maker] with crimson energy crackling in the air and mingling with the jet-black arcane energy shooting out of the crystal. The crystal itself and the remaining hinterlands soldiers she had yet to kill screamed in agony and pain as Ophelia twisted and plunged her sword deeper into the crystal, the hinterland soldiers fell onto the ground and began to spasm while the crystal was creaking and cracking as Ophelia drove her blade deeper into the thing, the rage in her eyes evident as she roared one final time before she pushed her sword all the way through and destroyed the crystal which exploded in a blinding flash of light before it dispersed into a fine mist that was carried off by the air. 

Once the crystal was destroyed, Ophelia quickly turned around and knelt next to Amelia who was quickly recovering, pulling out the large black spike that had pierced her abdomen and tossing it aside before embracing her tightly, her hands and body shaking as she held Amelia close in her arms. 

"Are you ok Amelia?" Ophelia asked, her words were shaky as she held onto her tightly 

"I am Ophie...I am, thank you for saving me" Amelia replied as she smiled and embraced her beloved in return 

"Gods damn it! I will not have you in harm's way again!" The raven-haired empress shouted as she held her beloved even tighter, feeling Amelia's cheek brush up against hers 

"Calm down Ophie, I just let my guard down that's all...plus, with my blessings and that gift of Semi-immortality, we are practically unkillable" The blonde empress replied, trying to soothe her beloved's fears

"But..I..." Ophelia stuttered 

"We promised to do this together Ophie, one little mistake will not break that promise now" Amelia cut her off before she could say anything, embracing her beloved even tighter

"I....Ok...just promise me you will not get hurt again" Ophelia relented as she closed her eyes and pushed her head closer to her beloved 

"I promise Ophie...I promise" Amelia replied as she kissed her beloved on the lips and then placed their foreheads together 

{!} 

A few moments later, Erhet and the rest of the Black Guard arrived, with some of them sprinting past their monarchs and stabbing the corpses on the ground to make sure they were dead. 

"Are you ok Your Majesties?" Erhet asked as she slithered up to them 

"We are Erhet, thank you for asking" Amelia replied as she flashed a smile to assure her of her word, helping her beloved to her feet as both of them stood up 

"You have orders for us then Your Majesties?" The lamia asked as she looked down at them 

"Yeah...about that, hey! Do those corpses have a black crystal in their necks?!" Ophelia asked as she turned to the Black Guards attacking the corpses 

"Yes Your Majesty!" One of them replied as he pulled out a pair of small black crystals from both bodies 

"Good. bring them here!" Ophelia added 

Once the Black Guards brought over the two crystals, Ophelia took them into her hands and examined them with her <Appraisal> skills, clicking her tongue as they only came back as 

Object: ?????

"Seal these in a tight container and then transport them back to the HRD, ask Vaeron to make studying them a top priority, I want to know what the hell these things are and where they came from, the rest of you, scavenge what you can from the camp and join up with the 2nd Army" The raven-haired empress ordered as she handed them over to Erhet 

"Understood Your Majesty, it will be done" Erhet and the rest bowed before leaving the two of them to their own devices 

"So what now?" Amelia asked her beloved 

"We continue southward. Once we deal with the Hinterlands Confederacy, we will be spending some time thinking about what to do next...I don't want any more nasty surprises" Ophelia answered her 

"Alrighty then, well, let's get going then shall we?" Amelia asked as she locked her arm around her beloved 

"Let's get going indeed" Ophelia answered with a smile as she kissed her on the lips 

A/N: And there we go! I hope you all enjoyed the fighting in this chapter, I think I did pretty well all things considered. If you got comments or reactions to the chapter, let me know in the comments below and as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!